Latest news with #KathleenHochul
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Two Rivers, Fort Covington solar projects moving forward
May 24—MASSENA — Boralex Inc. has entered into a Renewable Energy Standard Agreement with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to move two proposed solar projects forward — Two Rivers Solar Project in the towns of Massena and Brasher and Fort Covington Solar Farm in Fort Covington. Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul announced Thursday that contracts had been executed for 26 projects that, when completed, will provide more than 2.5 gigawatts of clean energy, which she said is enough to power more than 670,000 homes in the state. In addition, Hochul said, the projects will create more than 1,900 near-term, family-supporting jobs, and generate more than $6 billion in private investment. The contracts were awarded as part of NYSERDA's 2024 Renewable Energy Standard Competitive Solicitation for the purchase of New York Tier-1 Eligible Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). Each REC represents the environmental attributes of 1 megawatt-hour of electricity generated from an eligible renewable source such as solar energy "This is very exciting news for our town and the state as it looks to achieve its climate goals," Brasher Town Supervisor Mark A. Peets said. "Throughout the development of this project, Boralex has done an excellent job communicating the benefits to our community. They've listened to our concerns and, more importantly, made meaningful project changes that have helped build trust and support. We look forward to the hundreds of construction jobs, and tens of millions of dollars in economic development these projects will provide." "These developments are great news for our community and the surrounding area," Massena Town Supervisor Susan J. Bellor said. "I very much look forward to continuing to strengthen the relationship between Boralex and our town, and I'm excited about the long-term positive economic impact the project will have — not only for the participating landowners, but the broader community." Boralex US Development LLC filed an application with the state Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission (ORES) in January for the proposed solar facility in the towns of Brasher and Massena. The permit application is currently under review by ORES. The Two Rivers Solar Project will be an approximately 200-megawatt solar photovoltaic electric generating facility located on approximately 1,000 acres of land. Project representatives had provided an overview of the plans during two open houses, one in September in Brasher and another in April 2024 at the Massena Community Center. The project, which Boralex originated in 2021, will include solar arrays and other project infrastructure such as the site roads, substation, and electrical interconnection to the New York Power Authority's new 345-kilovolt circuit. The project will create approximately 150 jobs during construction, as well as two to three long-term jobs to support operations and maintenance. Officials said during the open house that they were committed to developing a local workforce and using local workers as much as possible. In addition, the project will boost the local economy and add commerce for local businesses during construction and operation, and will provide significant tax revenues to the towns of Massena and Brasher, St. Lawrence County and local school districts. Construction is expected to begin in 2026, with commissioning expected in 2028. More information about the project can be found at The Two Rivers Solar Project and Fort Covington Solar Farm were among seven north country projects that entered into contracts. Others included the Lyons Falls Mill Repower in Lewis County and Tracy Solar Energy Center in Jefferson County, as well as projects in Essex and Clinton counties.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Stefanik leads theoretical Republican primary for governor in latest statewide poll
May 20—Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul is holding steady with her middle-of-the-road poll numbers, while Rep. Elise M. Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, has rocketed to the top of the pack for potential Republican challengers for governor next year, according to the latest Siena College Research Institute poll. The SCRI poll released Tuesday has Hochul's favorability rating holding at 44% positive, 46% negative, only a slight change from last month when she had a 44% positive, 43% negative rating. Her job approval ratings are similar, with 50% of voters holding a positive view and 46% with a negative one, compared to last months 48% positive, 45% negative rating. Voters widely don't want to reelect Hochul according to the poll, with only 36% saying they want Hochul to keep the job compared to 55% who say they want "someone else." That's a steep drop from April, when 39% wanted Hochul re-elected and 48% didn't. The election is just over 17 months out, and a lot can change as the campaigns heat up early next year. In a theoretical primary, 46% of Democrats support Hochul compared to 12% who support Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado and 10% who support Rep. Ritchie J. Torres, D-Bronx. Neither Delgado nor Torres have signaled a primary challenge to Hochul, although Delgado has hinted he may be considering it. In the theoretical Republican primary, Stefanik carries support from 35% of voters compared to 22% for Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler and 11% for Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman. Lawler and Blakeman have hinted at potential runs for the governorship for months, while Stefanik only joined the pack last month after her bid to become the next United Nations ambassador was scuttled. "When asking Republicans who they want to see as their gubernatorial nominee next year, Stefanik is their early frontrunner, with a small double-digit lead over her downstate colleague, Lawler, and Blakeman, with barely double-digit support, trailing badly. When Stefanik was not included last month, Blakeman had a narrow 6-point lead over Lawler," SCRI pollster Steven Greenberg said. Greenberg noted that Stefanik has a negative favorability rating, with 35% of New Yorkers reporting a poor opinion of her compared to 25% with a positive opinion. A larger proportion, 40%, don't know who Stefanik is or have no opinion of her. Among Republicans, Stefanik carries a 45% positive, 22% negative favorability rating, with 33% of people reporting no knowledge or opinion of her. The SCRI poll also touched on some recently settled issues in the state budget process, which was passed earlier this month. According to the poll, there's majority or plurality support for a majority of the policy issues included in the state spending plan. A majority of voters support the inclusion of a provision to make it easier for customers to cancel subscriptions, the expansion of free school lunch and breakfast to all public school students, and the statewide ban on cellphone use in schools. A plurality — not a majority — support the "Inflation Refund Checks" that will be sent out later this year to most New Yorkers, the extension of emergency budget cut power to the governor if the federal government makes major cuts, and the decision to budget $10 million for Attorney General Letitia A. James to defend against federal charges of mortgage fraud. Voters are evenly split on one issue — the decision to pay back the state's roughly $8 billion federal unemployment debt with state money, a debt that has been being slowly repaid by extra unemployment insurance costs for businesses. On that issue, voters are evenly split 38% to 38%, with a plurality of Republicans and independents supporting the move and a plurality of Democrats opposed. Including moves like the expanded child tax credit and a delayed middle-class tax cut, a small majority of New Yorkers think this year's state spending plan will help to make New York at least somewhat more affordable. Some 15% of voters said the state will be a lot more affordable, 37% said it'll be somewhat more affordable, 26% said it won't make a significant difference and 17% said it'll make no difference at all. Opinions are split distinctly by party affiliation. "Nearly two-thirds of Democrats think the recently passed budget will make New York at least somewhat more affordable, and by a nearly two-to-one margin, Democrats think the budget will make life better for everyday New Yorkers," Greenberg said. "On the other hand, a majority of Republicans and independents say the budget's impact on affordability is not very much, if at all. By three-to-one, Republicans say the 'bloated budget' doesn't address New Yorkers' real needs, and a plurality of independents agree with them." At the federal level, President Donald J. Trump continues to be unpopular with much of the state's voting base. His overall approval rating is 40% positive, 57% negative, and is split heavily by party with 81% of Democrats disapproving of the job he is doing and 82% of Republicans approving. On the issues of immigration, the Russia-Ukraine war, the economy, upholding the American reputation, inflation and trade, a majority of voters say Trump is doing a poor job, between 52% and 59% for each. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., now the most senior elected Democrat as the Senate minority leader, only slightly improved his worst-ever approval ratings from last month, with 42% of voters saying they have a good view of him to 48% who disapprove of him in this latest poll. This SCRI poll was conducted between May 12 and 15, reaching 805 respondents by landline, cellphone and an online polling panel. The margin of error is 4.3% in either direction.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State lawmakers pass budget
May 8—ALBANY — The New York state budget has passed — lawmakers in the state Assembly and Senate wrapped up voting on the $254 billion state spending plan late Thursday night. In a series of nine bills, the state legislature and Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul agreed on a wide-ranging array of policy and spending goals, putting a billion dollars into environmental issues and funding public school districts at a record-high level, while also expanding the use of involuntary commitment to mental hospitals for people living on the streets and adjusting the rules around discovery in criminal trials. The legislature also moved to give Hochul near-unilateral power to cut up to $2 billion from the spending plan, with the legislature retaining the option to come back to Albany and reverse the cuts if they so choose. Albany flaks and lawmakers widely agreed — this year's budget process was a weird one. Speaker of the Assembly Carl E. Heastie said in February that the budget was among the best executive budgets he had ever seen, although he was only cautiously optimistic about negotiations on the final product. "The hell is in the details," the speaker said at the time. The state budget in Albany is frequently critiqued for being negotiated largely in private, between essentially three people; the governor, the Senate majority leader and the speaker. Sen. Mark C. Walczyk, R-Sackets Harbor, calls it "three Democrats in a room," frequently on social media. And for months, those three people and their staff members debated a handful of policy issues to be included in the state spending plan. Because the state budget requires that the governor initiate the legislation and court decisions have given the executive significant power over the budget, governor's for years have pushed their policy agendas mainly through the state budget process. Hochul has chosen to fight, this year, for changes to discovery rules, involuntary commitment to mental hospitals, a cell phone ban in schools, a criminal face mask ban, and an "inflation refund check," as well as a late-introduction ask for power to choose her lieutenant governor pick for the party primaries and an adjustment to the rules around hiring state prison security staff and early release for a limited group of incarcerated people. She was largely successful on those goals, although Hochul's efforts to get changes to the discovery rules was watered down by lawmakers last-minute, even as Hochul and her chief counsel outlined the final agreement as a win on her terms. That wasn't apparently the whole picture, and the ultimate legislation now in place falls far short of where Hochul and her team had outlined it on April 28. Hochul outlined a plan that would have essentially taken the dismissal of a case off the table as a penalty for when prosecutors failed to turn over evidence in a timely manner, and state rules on speedy trials were also being violated. But the language now in law keeps dismissal on the table in those cases — when a judge finds the prosecutors did fail to turn over evidence. But lawmakers did agree to language that would expand the use of involuntary commitment for people deemed unable or unwilling, because of mental illness, to provide for their own shelter, food, clothing or medical care. The state will also send $200 to $400 checks to about 8.2 million New Yorkers, a slightly watered down version of Hochul's "inflation refund checks" plan outlined in January. Her ask to cut the middle-class tax rate has also been deferred by a year. Democrats lauded the budget after it passed as a commitment to families and average New Yorkers. Heastie pointed to the inclusion, last minute and after Gov. Hochul had said it wouldn't happen, to pay off the state's roughly $7 billion debt to the federal unemployment system, largely left over from the pandemic which resulted in higher costs for businesses who pay into the unemployment system. "This budget invests in our people and in our state," Heastie said in a statement. "While the federal government proposes policies that are causing economic insecurity and worries about the future, we are fighting to support our small businesses, put money back into the pockets of hardworking families and invest in programs that will allow our children to reach their full potential. After it passed, state Republicans largely hammered the budget plan for its size, the policy inclusions and its tardyness. Assembly Minority Leader William A. Barclay, R-Pulaski, hammered the agreement in a statement. "Most of the policies that held up budget talks for more than a month represent small steps when comprehensive action was needed. Actions to address involuntary commitment, discovery reform and the statewide mask ban could have gone further, and hopefully they will do so in the future," he said. Assemblyman Scott A. Gray, R-Watertown, had a more bipartisan take on the budget; he voted in favor of most of the appropriations bills and two of the policy-laden bills. He approved of the bills that increased school funding and enacted universal free school meals for legislators, as well as the bill that included a move to allow some school districts to delay the 2032 deadline to fully electrify their school bus fleets. Gray also said he approved of the discovery changes, which he said will help to streamline criminal cases and reduce the number of cases dismissed based on technical mistakes. He voted down on four of the nine budget bills, including the bill that allows for the closure of 3 state prisons next year, the mental hygiene law that expanded involuntary commitment, and the transportation, economic development and environmental protection. "While the overall budget is larger than I'd like, I won't vote 'no' just because my job is to do a deeper dive into these bills and see what they deliver for the north country and all New Yorkers," Gray said. "This budget is imperfect, but it includes important initiatives that benefit our communities. I supported the measures that responsibly invest in our future and opposed those that went beyond what I believe is prudent."
